The U.S. Court of Claims ruled in favor of the Eastern Cherokee Tribe's claim against the U.S. on May 18, 1905. This resulted in the appropriation of $1 million to the Tribe’s eligible individuals and families. Interior Department employee Guion Miller created a list using several rolls and applications to verify tribal enrollment for the distribution of funds.

The applications received documented over 125,000 individuals; the court approved more than 30,000 individuals to share in the funds.

To be approved for funds the individual must:

Be alive as of May 28, 1906

Establish that he/she was a member or descendants of a person that had been included in the forced removal to Indian Territory, known as the “Ross Party”

Not be affiliated with a tribe other than the Cherokee

Submit an application that had to be received by August 31, 1907. Parents or guardians were given the opportunity to apply for minors and persons of unsound mind. Most of these later applications were rejected due to late receipt; however, all contain important individual and family history information.

These applications include:.

Applicant’s English and Indian names, date and place of birth

Names and ages of brothers and sisters

Place of birth and date of death of parents and grandparents

Residence

Spouse and children

Names of extended family

The National Archives provides a free online name index to the applications submitted for the Guion Miller Roll. The Guion Miller Roll and associated information are available at subscription-based websites Fold3.com (database titled Guion Miller Roll) and Ancestry.com (database titled U.S., Records Related to Enrollment of Eastern Cherokee by Guion Miller, 1908-1910). Prior to digitization, these and related records were accessible via the following microfilm publications:

M1104 Eastern Cherokee Applications of the U.S. Court of Claims, 1906-1909

M685, Records Relating to Enrollment of Eastern Cherokee by Guion Miller, 1908-1910. This publication includes the final roll, testimony of witnesses, and copies of the earlier census rolls used to make the final determinations.

The microfilm publications provide a brief history of the Guion Miller Roll. Visit the Online Catalog for the full archival records description:
National Archives Identifier 300329.